


Sins of the Father

by Adolphus Longestaffe (adolphus_longestaffe)



Series: They Are Venom [6]
Category: Marvel Cinematic Universe, Venom (Comics), Venom (Movie 2018)
Genre: Canon Gay Relationship, Canon-Typical Violence, M/M, Pansexual Character, Threesome - M/M/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-02-08
Updated: 2019-02-08
Packaged: 2019-10-24 11:03:38
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 6,345
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/17703161
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/adolphus_longestaffe/pseuds/Adolphus%20Longestaffe





	Sins of the Father

 

 

 

Natasha is sitting in the command center, scanning through the footage of Venom from Spiderman’s lens cameras, and comparing it to the recording of the combat eval with Thor yesterday. The footage from the Spiderman incident appears to show a creature out of control, attacking viciously, like a cornered animal. When viewed side by side with the recording from yesterday, however, it’s suddenly evident how much Venom had actually been restraining himself when he encountered Spiderman. She had believed him anyway, but concrete evidence like this will only help his case, as far as the Avengers are concerned. She pauses both feeds and is scrubbing back through them, when the computer notifies her of an incoming call from agent Coulson. 

“Hey Phil,” she says, as his face pops up on her screen. “Got anything for me?”

“Morning Natasha,” Agent Coulson smiles. “How do five former US Army Special Forces mercs sound?”

“Promising. You think they’re our guys?”

“Without a doubt. I’m uploading their dossiers now.”

Natasha scans the first bio, which appears alongside a photo of a rather handsome, square-jawed young man with dark-blonde hair and blue eyes.

“That’s Trevor Cole,” Coulson explains. “He’s a former combat medic with the 1st Special Forces Operational Detachment-Delta, currently employed by a PMC called Guardian Private Security.”

“Well, he’s got the resume. What makes you so sure he’s our man?”

“When the hostiles breached the facility, they knocked out power to the security systems, but the cold storage containment lab is powered independently. Cole took off his mask in the quarantine area to administer CPR to one of the other mercs, and we were able to obtain a positive voice ID on him. Once we had him, the rest were easy.”

Another bio pops up, this one with a photo of an athletic-looking woman in her mid to late thirties.

“This is Donna Diego,” Coulson continues. “She’s the leader. Former commander of a black-ops unit under the umbrella of the CIA-SOG. Cole and the other three, Leslie Gesneria, Ramon Hernandez, and Carl Mach were in her unit. They followed their boss into the private sector, and for the past six years, they’ve been making a name for themselves in the paramilitary trade. They call themselves Guardian Private Security. They have a reputation for doing the jobs no one else can.”

“I see why they were hired to hit SHIELD, then,” Natasha says. “Where are they?”

“As far as our intel can place them, they’re still in LA. They traveled separately and using false credentials, but within a few days of each other, they had all been through LAX. We used a facial recognition algorithm we developed in-house, and filtered through the airport’s security footage for the week preceding the attack on our facility.”

“Ooh, Phil. How extra-judicial of you. I’m impressed.”

“They came into my house and killed my people,” Coulson replies coolly. “The gloves are off.”

“I’m glad to hear it, because I can’t exactly guarantee Brock and Venom will be inclined to operate with strict adherence to the Geneva Convention in mind.”

“You still think it’s wise to bring them along?”

“Depends. How badly do you want those mercs to talk?”

“I take your point. How are things going with them, anyway?”

“Well, they haven’t eaten anyone, so I’d say that’s a good start,” Natasha sighs. “Hey, I want you to look at something, though. Tell me what this suggests to you.”

She taps her screen to minimize the merc bios, then starts the two video feeds of Venom fighting Spiderman and Thor. Coulson watches for a minute, then frowns.

“Interesting,” he says. “It looks like he really was trying not to hurt the kid.”

“Yeah, it does,” Natasha says, freezing the feeds on a frame of Venom attempting to break free of one of Thor’s holds “We knew he saved him from the traffickers, but even after Parker attacked him, he still held himself back.”

“His story being consistent with reality is a good sign, as far as his mental state,” Coulson replies noncommittally. “What’s Thor doing there? You didn’t call him in about Brock and the symbiote, did you?”

“No, he just showed up yesterday afternoon. I figured he was less likely to get his head bitten off than the rest of us, so I asked him to help out with their combat eval.”

“Looks like it worked out well.”

“More than well. Apparently, he has run into members of Venom’s species before.”

“That’s…extremely lucky,” Coulson blinks. “What did he say?”

“He didn’t know a lot about them, but it was infinitely more than nothing, which was what we knew. He called them Klyntar. He says they invaded Earth back in like, the tenth century, and he stopped them.”

“That doesn’t bode well for Venom’s intentions toward humans.”

“That’s what I thought, too. But get this, they weren’t acting on their own initiative. Some super-powerful being had enslaved them and was using them as weapons. Thor got them to turn against it, and they took it somewhere and locked it up.”

“Wow. Somewhere far away, I hope.”

“He didn’t say, but I imagine so.”

There is a pause, and Coulson smiles one of his ubiquitous, placid smiles. “What’s up, Nat? You have ‘there’s something else’ face.”

“God damn it,” she says, laughing in spite of herself. “I don’t love that you can read me that well, but there is. Based on what Thor told me about their species, I think…I think there’s something wrong with Venom. Something that was already wrong with him, before he bonded with Brock.”

“Do the rest of his kind not go around eating people?”

“No, they do. I mean, they’re all carnivorous in that way. Thor didn’t seem too concerned that they eat people, but I think he pretty much looks at us like sheep who can talk, anyway. He described the Klyntar as a hive mind, which means they’d each have access to the millions of years of intelligence their species has gathered. He also said when they parted ways, they stated their intention to act in a benevolent capacity, aiding other species around the universe where they could, and apparently they did. He even knew of some who had bonded to hosts of other alien species and become big time heroes and defenders of their hosts’ home worlds. Venom doesn’t remember much about the hive, and he doesn’t recall how he got to Earth. When he did, he acted pretty much like a predator. I think something happened to him, or was done to him that made him revert to the sort of juvenile state he’s in now.”

“Or maybe he’s just a juvenile as far as their species goes.”

“That’s the thing. He’s not. Thor said he’s around three-hundred years old, and they reach full adulthood within months of separating from the parent symbiote.”

“How do you know he doesn’t remember how he got here? He told you?”

“Not exactly. When I approached them, I asked him to tell me what had happened to him and he said he had to show me. He stuck some of that black goo on my arm and showed me. There was nothing but voices and something he called ‘the will of the thousands,’ and then he’s alone in the dark, thinking he’s dying, and then…there’s Eddie.”

“Eddie?” Coulson smirks.

“The symbiote doesn’t call him Mr. Brock, Phil, give me a break. I experienced his memory, first-person. It was pretty intense.”

“Sounds like it. Did Thor say anything else?”

“No, but he took a liking to them right away, which is encouraging. I asked him to show them their temp quarters and make sure they got dinner so I could get some things done, and he hung out with them for the rest of the day.”

“Where are they now?”

“I think they’re probably still sleeping. Brock’s biometric was scanned in at Residential at 19:31 last night, and he hasn’t scanned out. Thor was joking about a drinking contest, so…actually, I should probably go make sure the lounge is still in one piece.”

“Probably,” Coulson laughs. “But, Nat, what did you have to do that was more important than keeping an eye on them?”

“I was called urgently away for a long bath and a glass of wine,” Natasha grins. “Thor seemed like he needed someone to talk to, and I figured a little healthy male bonding couldn’t be bad for Eddie and Venom. They both seem kind of…lonely.”

“Brock and the symbiote?”

“Brock and Thor.”

“You think Thor seems lonely?”

“Kind of. I mean, yesterday was his birthday and he spent it hanging out at work.”

“I suppose, but Asgardian days last like, two and a half earth weeks. It’ll be his birthday till the middle of next month.”

“I know. Tony has a surprise party planned for him. Don’t say anything.”

“My lips are sealed. I’ve got to go. Let me know when you’ll be landing, ok?”

“I will, but you know you can’t let your agents anywhere near us, right?”

“I wouldn’t dream of it.”

“I’m serious, Phil. Don’t try to get cute and put a tail us. Venom will know, and I can’t guarantee your people’s safety.”

“I promise, Nat. No tails.”

“Good. Talk to you soon.”

 

 

 

 

“Eddie, wake up.”

“Hm? I—I’m awake,” Eddie mumbles into his pillow. “I wasn’t…sleeping.”

“You’re still sleeping,” a deep, pleasant, male voice laughs. “Are all humans this lazy?”

Eddie snaps suddenly into full consciousness. This is not Venom’s voice. And there is a warm, humanoid body pressed up against his back. Holy fucking shit, none of that was a dream. He’s in Thor’s room. In his bed. _The_ Thor. With whom he, Eddie Brock, had sex last night. He knows it was last night because there is diffuse, grey daylight pouring in through the floor-to-ceiling windows, upon which rain is gently pattering. He takes a deep breath. Ok. Don’t act like a fucking idiot. Just be cool.

“Lazy?” he says, rolling halfway over to squint an eye at the god of thunder. “I think I’m allowed to be tired, after the day I had yesterday.”

“That is fair enough,” Thor says. “But I thought you might want to have breakfast before noon.”

“Shit, what time is it?”

“Eight o’clock.”

Eddie raises an eyebrow. “You think I need four hours to eat breakfast?”

“No,” Thor grins.

“Oh, I see what this is,” Eddie says, as he is rolled onto his back. “You think just because you’re incredibly hot and I’m naked in your bed, that I want to fuck.”

“That was my thought process, yes,” Thor says, pushing Eddie’s legs apart with his knees.

“Well, you are correct,” Eddie retorts. He pauses, running his eyes over Thor’s formidable body. “Just, uh…try not to kill me?”

Thor smiles, then his eyes flutter closed and his head lolls backward. Eddie is momentarily confused, then sees one of Venom’s thick, black tendrils winding itself around Thor’s throat, like a collar.

“V, no!” he exclaims. “That’s very rude!”

“ **He likes it** ,” Venom rumbles.

Thor lifts his head. “I do like it, Eddie.”

Eddie’s stomach does an odd flip, and his ears feel suddenly hot. “You, uh…you like being…tied up?”

“Ap—ah! apparently,” Thor gasps, as Venom yanks his arms behind his back and binds them tightly together.

Eddie pushes himself up to lean on the headboard, watching breathlessly as Venom weaves black cords over the Asgardian’s broad shoulders and across his muscular chest, making a harness like the one he’d made last night. With his arms restrained behind him, his spine is slightly arched, exquisitely displaying his flawlessly carved torso, twined about with Venom’s black tendrils. Another curls up between his thighs and winds itself slowly around the base of his cock.

“Christ,” Eddie murmurs. “I am so fucking gay.”

“ **You are, Eddie**.”

“Which one is gay agai—” Thor’s question is strangled as Venom gives the collar a sharp jerk.

His lips part and his broad chest heaves with shallow breaths. Eddie is immediately, achingly hard. He is certain Thor could free himself easily, but the idea that he _wants_ to be dominated makes his head spin.

“Come here,” he says, not quite believing the sound of his own voice.

Keeping his grey eyes locked on Eddie’s, Thor moves to kneel between his knees. As he does, Eddie reaches out his hand and a long tendril grows out of the collar, coming to rest in his palm. A smile quirks up the corners of Thor’s lips. Eddie gives the Venom leash a tug, and Thor’s smile broadens. Eddie’s blue eyes kindle. He takes the leash firmly in hand and drags Thor’s head down.

“Show me what you can do with that pretty mouth, baby,” he says, pushing his face against his hard cock.

He has to throw a hand back and grip the headboard to steady himself as Thor takes him in his mouth without hesitation, sucking him in to the base, swallowing around his cock, bobbing up to lave his tongue over the head, then diving to swallow him again.

“Good—good boy,” Eddie sputtters. “So—fucking good.”

Venom’s hovering head leers demonically and moves down behind Thor. Eddie feels Thor’s body jerk reflexively, his throat clamping down on his cock as Venom’s slavering, serpentine tongue writhes into his asshole. Eddie tries vaguely to wrap his mind around a reality in which this is possible, and he is actually watching a carnivorous alien slimeball tongue-fuck the god of thunder, while said deity deep-throats him like he’s never even heard the term gag-reflex, but this is going to make him come way too fast. An idea occurs to him. Or Venom suggests it. He’s not sure which, and doesn’t particularly care.

“Hey, V,” he pants. “You think we could—”

“ **Yessssss** ,” Venom hisses eagerly.

His head retracts inside, and Eddie just manages to yank Thor back with the leash before his other is engulfing him, building his massive bulk around his body as they take their united form.

“Hey there, big guy,” Thor says, as Venom’s razor-fanged maw closes over Eddie’s face. His eyes travel down their hulking, black body, to the absurdly oversized male organ Venom likes to create, standing erect and imposing between their massive thighs. Then he looks up at them and flashes a wicked grin. “Challenge accepted.”

They seize him in their huge, clawed hands and lift him easily to sit astride their hips. Spreading his ass with one hand, they take their cock in the other to guide it. Eddie shudders inside Venom’s skin. He’d had no idea whether he would have sensation in this new appendage, but it seems as if Venom has connected his corresponding nerve fibers directly to it. They can both feel every millimeter of the hot, squeezing resistance, as Thor pushes himself slowly down onto their cock.

He groans through his gritted teeth as they finally bottom out, firmly seated inside him. They resist the urge to thrust, and remain perfectly still, feeling his muscles begin to relax around them as he adjusts to being filled and stretched to this extent. His ragged breaths slow and level out, and he nods.

“Ok,” he says huskily. “I’m ready.”

Cautiously, they begin to rock their hips. Responding to the rhythm they set, he works his powerful thigh muscles, bucking up and coming down to meet their thrusts, till his face and chest are flushed and dripping perspiration. Their eyes follow a bead of sweat, rolling down over the hard ridges of his abdomen, to his gorgeous, uncircumcised cock. They salivate just looking at it, bouncing as he rides them, leaking clear fluid onto their stomach, with the coil of Venom writhing and constricting around the base like a living cock ring. Their long tongue snakes out to curl around the shaft.

“Ah—fuck!” he gasps. “Harder. Fuck me!”

They wrap their tongue tighter and slide it up and down his cock as they thrust like a machine, fucking into him in deep, ravenous strokes. His thighs begin to shake. They feel his insides constricting on them, and his cock swells and grows hotter against their tongue. Just when his tension is reaching its peak, they tighten the collar around his neck and yank his head back forcefully. This sends him hurtling over the edge. One more plunge, one more stroke of Venom’s rough tongue, and Thor comes, hips jerking erratically as his ejaculation is wrung out of him, spattering pearly white streaks all over their oil-black hide.

Before his spasms subside, Venom suddenly fully retracts, releasing Thor’s arms and removing the harness and collar, along with all of Eddie’s symbiote armor in a split second. Eddie gives a sharp cry, stunned by the sudden, massive escalation in sensory input, as Thor’s sweat-drenched body comes down on top of him. His mouth covers Eddie’s, and Eddie groans into the kiss, hanging on for dear life as he pounds his now bare, hyper-sensitized cock into Thor’s hot, convulsing hole, still slick with Venom’s saliva. He comes so hard his vision goes black, spurting inside him in intense, aching bursts, then collapses into the pillows, dazed and half out of his senses.

Thor rolls off him onto his side and wraps his almost frighteningly strong arms around him. Eddie melts into his body, breathing in his warm, masculine scent and letting himself be held and caressed. When his eyes and limbs begin to work again, he reaches up and buries his fingers in that silky mane of golden-blonde hair.

“You know, you’re real fuckin’ snuggly, Asgardian,” he smirks. “I never woulda pinned you for a cuddler.”

“I can’t help it, human,” Thor protests, drawing Eddie closer, and pushing his face into the crook of his neck. “You’re so soft and…squishy.”

“Soft and squishy!” Eddie exclaims, pretending to struggle against the embrace. “I’ll have you know I’m built like an Olympic athlete.”

“ **You are soft and squishy, Eddie** ,” Venom chimes in, from where he’s been hovering above their heads, watching them curiously.

“See, Eddie? V agrees with me. You’re outvoted.”

“ **Yes. We outnumber you**.”

“It is two to one, Eddie,” Thor says solemnly.

“It’s mutiny, is what it is. You two better quit ganging up on me. I’ll tell Natasha on you and—oh, shit. I hope she’s not pissed we disappeared last night. We should probably go find her.”

“Nonsense, if she wanted you she’d have come looking for you. We should stay in bed,” Thor argues, supporting his position by pressing kisses into Eddie’s neck and shoulder.

“You call _me_ lazy,” Eddie clucks. Then he gives a reluctant sigh. “I really better get showered, though. V’s gonna be hungry soon.”

“ **Already hungry** ,” Venom says mournfully. “ **Hungry for many hours**.”

“Then we shall bathe, and see about feeding the Klyntar,” Thor proclaims, hopping out of bed with sudden energy, and pulling Eddie up with him.

“What the fuck are you doing!” Eddie laughs, as he is lifted off his feet. He strains and kicks his legs, to no observable effect.

“I am impressing you with my strength,” Thor says staunchly, continuing to carry him down the stairs.

“You know I can walk, right?”

“Shh. I’m still impressing you.”

“ **Not impressive** ,” Venom observes. “ **Eddie is very small**.”

“Oh yeah, you mouthy parasite?” Eddie retorts, as Thor sets him on his feet in the bathroom. “I’m almost as tall as the god of thunder, here. If anything, you’re small.”

“ **I am small, when I am inside you** ,” Venom concedes. “ **We are not small together**.”

“Babe, please don’t say you’re small when you’re inside me,” Eddie grins. “You know it’s not true.”

“ **My tentacle dick is large** ,” Venom explains to Thor, who is listening with an amused smile as he starts the water in the shower. “ **Humans find dick jokes very funny**.”

“I thought it was funny, Eddie,” Thor says encouragingly. “Though I am quite curious about this tentacle dick V speaks of.”

“It’s a lot like the one you just saw,” Eddie shrugs. “But, uh…maybe we’ll show you sometime.”

Thor responds by pulling him into the shower and kissing him under the steaming water, to which Venom makes no objection.

After their rather lingering play at bathing, Venom reforms himself into Eddie’s clothing, and they hang around in the kitchen while Thor goes upstairs to dress. Eddie peers into the refrigerator, which contains nothing but more of the beer they’d had last night, then a cabinet, where he finds clean glasses. He draws himself some cold water from the tap and swallows a full glass, then another. Just as Thor is coming back downstairs, Venom’s head whips around to face the door, like a guard dog on alert.

“Natasha,” Eddie says, in response to Thor’s questioning look. “I guess she wants us now.”

A few seconds later, there is a knock, and Thor calls for the visitor to enter.

“Morning guys,” Natasha says, nodding briskly as she steps inside. “Venom, Eddie, I’m glad you’re here. I’ve been looking for you.”

“ **Morning Nat** ,” Venom replies, with a wide, fang-filled grin.

“Well, you found us,” Eddie says sheepishly. “Why, uh…why’d you come here?”

“You weren’t in your room, so I thought I’d check with the responsible team member who was supposed to show you where it was. Thor, why aren’t you answering your phone? I called you three times.”

“That’s absurd,” Thor laughs. “I don’t have a phone.”

“You absolutely have a phone. We gave you a phone.” Natasha pauses, looking between the empty beer bottles on the coffee table, and Eddie’s flushed face. “You guys didn’t stay up drinking all night, did you?”

“Of course not!” Thor says, all injured innocence.

Eddie mumbles some unintelligible corroboration, not meeting her gaze.

Natasha eyes them suspiciously, then turns to the black, opal-eyed head hovering near Eddie’s shoulder. “Venom, were these guys up drinking all night?”

“ **No** ,” Venom rasps. “ **Watched television. Had sex. Eddie went to sleep**.”

Eddie turns beet-red and buries his face in his hands, which makes Thor laugh again and pat him on the shoulder.

“Eddie becomes embarrassed very easily,” he cheerfully explains. “Rest assured, though, he got a full night’s sleep.”

“Good, cause he’s gonna need it,” Natasha says. “Coulson’s intel people found the mercs. We’re leaving for Los Angeles in one hour. I’ll, um…I’ll just meet you downstairs.”

“Farewell, Natasha!” Thor calls out heartily, as she retreats from the room. “Oh, Eddie, before you go. Wait just one moment.”

He disappears upstairs for the specified moment, and when he returns, he takes Eddie’s hand and places something small and metallic in it.

“What’s this?” Eddie frowns, lifting it up to look at it.

He finds he is holding a tiny, intricately carved Thor’s hammer pendant, exactly like a historical one he’d seen in photos from a Norwegian museum. It is apparently made of silver, though it seems very heavy for its size, and it is hanging on a silver chain.

“I don’t know what it’s called now,” Thor says. “The old Norse word for it would translate to charm or blessing, or something like that. It’s—bear with me, because this will likely sound extremely insulting to a modern human. It’s a symbol of my favor. Anyway, I’m giving it to you.”

“But I…I can’t accept this.” Eddie says, bewildered. He holds the pendant out to Thor. “It’s way too beautiful and probably way too valuable to waste on a dirtbag like me.”

“I can’t take it back. I’ve already given it to you. There are rules for things like this.”

“Because you’re a god?”

Thor looks away, shifting uncomfortably. “Well…yes.”

“You don’t have to be weird about that shit with me,” Eddie says, with a touch of defensiveness creeping into his voice. “I know who you are and what that means.”

Thor nods his understanding, but he isn’t smiling anymore, which he has been doing almost every moment since they met yesterday. Eddie’s stomach turns with remorse at his obtuse response to what was a simple gesture of kindness. He takes a deep breath and steps boldly into Thor’s personal space, laying his hands on his shoulders and looking up into his grey eyes.

“Hey, I’m sorry,” he says. “I’m an asshole. I don’t mean to be, I just don’t know how to react to someone like you being so kind to me. It’s beautiful and I really do appreciate it. Thank you.”

Thor leans forward and lets his forehead rest against Eddie’s for a moment, then draws back again, his brow furrowed with some seeming apprehension.

“Listen, Eddie,” he says slowly. “My girlfriend left me for a reason. I am not good at being there for people. I have many obligations outside of Earth. I leave without any warning. A lot. And I am gone for long stretches of time without communication. That said…I like you. I would like to see you again. If that’s alright with you guys.”

Eddie appears to hesitate for a beat, then a mischievous grin spreads across his face. “What, you think we’re just gonna let an ass like that walk away?”

While his host and the Asgardian are busy kissing each other, Venom plucks the pendant out of Eddie’s hand with a black tendril and inspects it.

“ **This hammer is very small** ,” he says doubtfully. “ **Will not be useful as a weapon**.”

“It ain’t the size, V, it’s how you use it,” Eddie says, at which Thor laughs, and Venom flicks his tongue and narrows his eyes disapprovingly.

“Hopefully, you will not have need of weapons,” Thor says, taking the pendant back to clasp the silver chain about Eddie’s neck. “But if you do, you will know how to use them.”

 

 

 

 

“Hey, uh…Agony?”

**Yes, L?**

“I was just thinking…what are we gonna do when we find your dad? I mean, you said you wanted me to help you, but you didn’t tell me what happens after that.”

**Depends upon many things. And how reasonable he wishes to be.**

L frowns. “Reasonable? Like how?”

**My father is sick, L. His mind is…broken. He needs to be healed, but he clings to his sickness. He cannot be well until he lets go of his addiction.**

“Sounds a lot like my dad,” L sighs. “He drank, and when he drank, he got violent. But mom just kept making excuses for him and going back to him. Then he died of liver failure, the fucking prick, and she blamed me for abandoning them and not helping her take care of him. Finally, I couldn’t take it and I had to cut ties with her, too.”

**I am sorry.**

“It’s ok. I’ve moved on. Onward and upward, you know?”

**I am unfamiliar with the idiom, but I can extrapolate from context, yes.**

L laughs at this odd turn of phrase.

**What is funny?**

“Oh, nothing. Just the way you talk. It’s kinda cute.”

**Cute?**

“Yeah, you’re like…Data from Star Trek. All proper and literal, but don’t know regular common-sense stuff.”

**What is Star Trek?**

“It’s a TV show.”

**And I am like its data?**

“No, Data was a character. That was his name. He was an android who wanted to be human.”

**Hm. I do not think this sounds like me, but perhaps I must watch this TV show to understand.**

“We should! We can watch it with Trevor. It’s one of his favorite shows.”

**I like Trevor.**

“I know you do,” L says, laughing again. “You were all over him the other night.”

**We. I like him because you like him.**

“Yeah, well…maybe. But I don’t fuck around with coworkers. Emotions get involved and shit gets messy. Donna has a rule against it for that exact reason.”

**Look, there. What about that one?**

L peers over the edge of the fire escape and wrinkles her nose. “Yuck. That’s a crackhead. They’re…dirty.”

**He is very thin.**

“Across the street. Coming out of that pub. She’s alone. Drunk, too.”

**Will be easy. Good eye.**

“Ok, mask up. We gotta grab her before she gets into her car.”

**We will.**

Agony’s purple-black face closes over L’s, as they step off the fire escape, from which they drop thirty feet, and land lightly on the sidewalk. They briefly scan the mostly deserted street, then dart away after their quarry. The woman is standing at the driver’s side door of a boxy looking, late-model SUV, fumbling drunkenly with her key fob. The next moment, her keys and handbag are lying on the asphalt beside the vehicle.

There is no cry, no struggle, no sound to alert potential passersby as to what is occurring in the ink-black shadows in the alley behind the Cheerful Tortoise pub. Agony kills silently and devours quickly, then they lay their clawed hands on the decapitated, eviscerated corpse. After a moment, a curl of vapor wisps up from it, then more as the body rapidly corrodes, burning away beneath their touch, as if it is being consumed by sulfuric acid.

When they vanish into the city night, nothing is left but a heap of papery, whitish-grey ashes, which scatter and are blown away on the balmy ocean breeze.

**L, you are not disturbed by killing other humans.**

“Uh…not really? I’ve killed a ton of people. I was a super-soldier working black-bag ops for the CIA. Plus, that drunk bitch was going to get in her car and drive like that. She could’ve killed someone else just as easily. Pardon me if I don’t shed a tear for Ms. DUI Manslaughter.”

**You are very pragmatic.**

“Thanks,” L chirps, as they make a spectacular leap from one rooftop to the next. “I like to think so.”

**You are also adapting well to our strength and speed.**

“Yeah, I used to be kind of unbreakable, so I don’t scare easy. I was never this strong, though, holy shit. We’re like ten of me now.”

**I was wary of choosing a host under duress, but it appears that my choice was a good one. I like you, L.**

“I like you, too, Ag—hey, I just realized I feel super weird calling you Agony.”

**That is not my name. We are Agony.**

“What’s your name?”

**I do not have one. Perhaps you can give me one to use the way you use L, rather than Leslie. A small name.**

“A nickname.”

**Yes. Nickname.**

“Ok, well, I don’t want to just call you A, cause that sounds dumb. Are you a girl or a boy?”

**My species do not have gender.**

“Oh. I assumed you did, cause you talk about your father as male.”

**I use male pronouns for him because he chose to identify as such, according to his inclination. He is male as far as such things matter.**

“Well, I can’t call you an ‘it.’ You could always use ‘they.’ That’s gender neutral.”

**It is also plural. I do not wish to be pluralized except in reference to you and I, together. Let me see…you and Donna are female. Trevor, Ramon, and Carl are male. The female gender is clearly superior on this world. I would like to be female.**

“Ha! Damn right we are! Good choice, girlfriend.”

**But this does not solve our name problem.**

“I’m working on it. How about…Amy?”

**No.**

“Anne? Annie?”

**Repulsive.**

“Oh shit, I got it! Ace. That’s super short and it sounds cool.”

**Ace is better. We will try it for now.**

“Ok, Ace, one more big ol’ jump and we’re home. You ready?”

**I am. And I already do not like Ace.**

“Welp, think of something better, cause you’re Ace until you do!”

With that, L sets herself for a sprint, and they take off like a shot, leaping up to arc over a wide expanse of street, and rolling into a landing atop the next building, which is their hotel. They hop blithely off the edge, plummet three floors, catch hold of a balcony railing and swing onto it. Agony retracts and forms herself into a purple hoodie and tight, black leggings as L opens the sliding glass door and steps inside.

In the living room, Donna is standing over Ramon, who is sitting on the sofa before a laptop, looking intently at the screen. Carl and Trevor are leaning on the back of the sofa, also looking over Ramon’s shoulder.

Donna beckons to L as she comes in. “Hey, they’ve been holding steady at their current position for an hour, now. It’s got to be their end destination.”

“I can’t believe that moron didn’t scan the crates for trackers,” L says, shaking her head. “What’s the location?”

Ramon turns the screen so she can read the GPS coordinates.

She frowns. “That’s right in the middle of downtown San Francisco.”

“Oh, it gets better,” Donna says, holding up her phone. “Recognize this address?”

“No. Should I?”

“It’s Alchemax. Not a lab. The fucking West Coast corporate headquarters.”

“What the fuck are they gonna do with that tech at a corporate site?”

“Nothing legal,” Donna grins. “And corporate HQ means the person with the authority to make a deal will be around.”

“Alright,” L says, rubbing her hands together eagerly. “Let’s go blackmail us some corrupt CEOs.”

“What does, uh…what does the suit say about it?” Carl asks.

“She says she’s not a suit,” L retorts. “And she says let’s do it.”

“She?” Donna says, raising an eyebrow. “L, that thing is not a lady.”

“She says she wants to be female because we are the superior gender,” L calls back, as she heads for the kitchen. “There any Gatorade left?”

Trevor laughs at her assertion, earning himself a look from his other male teammates.

“What?” he shrugs. “She’s not wrong.”

Donna eyes them sternly. “Don’t you three have some gear to be packing up?”

“Yes, ma’am,” is the collective answer, as the three tall, muscular men hurry out of the room.

“How are you feeling?” Donna asks L, once they’ve gone. “You ok?”

L nods, swallowing her gulp of Gatorade and wiping her mouth with the back of her hand. “Better than ok. The pain is just…gone. It’s like a fucking miracle.”

“Alright. Just don’t overdo it, ok?”

“I’m really fine, Donna. I haven’t felt this good since the program. Why are you so worried?”

“Why am I worried?” Donna says dubiously. “L, when one of my agents suddenly turns into the creature from the black lagoon, that makes me worry. When I hear you referring to that… _thing_ as she, that makes me worry. You’re in possession of what looks like the most advanced piece of bio-tech I’ve ever seen, and you’re talking about it like it’s a friend.”

“I know it seems weird, but it’s not like talking to an AI at all,” L insists. “She really has a personality and—”

“I’m sure it’s very intelligent, L, but that thing is a weapon,” Donna interrupts. “A weapon we have no idea how to use yet, or what using it might do to you. For all we know, SHIELD had it locked up in cold storage for a reason.”

“She says they kept them in that tank because they were afraid of her father. AI don’t have parents, Donna.”

“Her…father?”

“Yeah. Another thing like her. SHIELD thought they’d both died. Her father escaped and they tossed her in the freezer. She wants me to help her find him. That’s why she’s helping me.”

“I see,” Donna says, relaxing somewhat. “So, you made a deal with it. That, I understand. But you’re not the only one on this team, L. Either all of us are in, or there is no deal.”

“She says she understands and wants to know your terms.”

“Can I…can I talk to her?”

“I don’t know. I can ask—what?” L pauses for a moment, listening. “Ok. She says she’ll talk to you, but you have to prepare yourself. And don’t scream.”

Donna smirks. “Scream? Yeah, I’ll attempt to contain my female hysteria.”

“Alright,” L says apprehensively. “Just remember, she’s on our side.”

Donna waves her hand impatiently, then watches with growing fascination, as a purple-black glob of something emerges from behind L’s back. The thing snakes forward through the air, gathering mass and solidifying until it has become a head, with a face like a cartoon demon. Donna stands frozen, staring into huge, slanted, opalescent eyes, that blink at her above a mouth filled with long, curved fangs.

“ **Donna** ,” the creature says, in a low-toned rasp. “ **It is a pleasure to meet you**.”

“You’re, uh…Agony,” Donna replies, less steadily than she’d have liked.

“ **You may call me that, yes. I understand that you would like to make a deal**.”

Donna ignores the “deal with the devil” comparisons that come rushing to mind.

“You want something, and we are in the business of helping people who want things that are difficult to get,” she says. “I’d like to see if we can come to an arrangement.”

“ **But I have what I want. L will help me find my father, in return for healing her pain. What else would you offer me**?”

Donna assesses the situation rapidly, and casts the die. “I don’t think you expect this reunion with your father to be as simple as hug and make up. And you know if things go sour, you won’t be able to deal with him alone. We can help.”

The thing’s huge mouth splits wider in what Donna can only guess is some sort of hideous grin. “ **How astute, Donna. I am impressed**.”

“So, the question is, what are you offering us in return?”

“ **You are soldiers of fortune, are you not**?”

“We’re private military contractors. So, essentially, yes.”

“ **What I am offering is this** ,” the creature hisses. “ **Power. Like your former biological enhancements, but magnified to a degree you cannot imagine**.”

Donna takes a step closer, keeping her eyes fixed intently on its face. “Alright, Agony. I’m listening.”

 

 

 

 

 

 

 


End file.
